Chapter 16: Going Back

They did not infect the injured staff members with their virus, at least not by conventional means. No. Instead, after the first attacks showed them that they couldn’t take control of the feeders, they used the opportunity for a more ingenious method. They ... when they bit one of the feeders only recently, they somehow embedded some of their eggs beneath his skin. Several newborns hatched right out of his arm. But that wasn’t the worst of it.

Ryan could see Éclair’s face shine with lucidity, her posture determined and alert. He could even feel the fervor in her muscles as his enhanced senses perceived her body grow taut in anticipation of the battles to come. Éclair was completely set on their path, and nothing could deter her from it. Ryan even doubted that he could stop her physically at this point, not that he had any plans of trying. He wanted to save Grafael as much as she did. God knew that he owed that Saurian for everything he taught him about fighting, not to mention the countless times he saved all their lives. However, he still felt the nagging sensation that Grafael would not approve of the course they had set themselves upon.

The Saurian had devoted his entire life to Éclair’s wellbeing and safety. He believed she would become the catalyst that would save his people and restore honor back to his family. From all that Ryan knew of Éclair, he was probably right, especially with Zand’s recent revelation that she was going to become some kind of deity known as the Sacred Vessel of Purity. Ryan was still trying to wrap his head around that one.

But what gnawed most at Ryan was the look of disappointment he could imagine on Grafael’s face if his friend could see him now. He could almost hear Grafael’s berating voice accusing him of breaking his promise by putting Éclair in danger. Grafael wouldn’t want Éclair’s life put in jeopardy under any circumstances, not even to save his own life. In some cases, especially not to save his own life.

When he finds out that I let her do this, he’s going to kill me, thought Ryan to himself. No, first he’s going to beat me to a bloody pulp, and then he’s going to kill me. I can hear it now. ‘You put my protectorate’s life in danger just to save my worthless hide. I wish the Parasites had finished me off before I saw my brother bring such shame to our oaths’. Or something dramatic like that. The guy is like a walking soap opera! But damn, do I respect the hell out of him.

Ryan also knew that it wasn’t just Éclair who convinced him to come along. He wanted to save Grafael. He wanted to be there for his friend who had held up a wall to keep an army of mercenaries at bay. Who had gone toe to toe with the Berserkers, the most dangerous creatures in the universe, just to save Ryan’s sorry hide. He wanted to return the favor that he knew was owed to a warrior who inspired and helped him at every turn. He wished there was a way to do that without putting Éclair in danger, but he knew he had no right to. She was correct when she said that Grafael was her friend for much longer than Ryan’s. How could he ask her to stay behind while he played the big hero again? Better question, how could he hope to succeed without her help? Even better question, could they succeed even with their combined efforts?

Graf, I hope you can forgive me for going along with this. Despite what you may say, your worth it, buddy. You always will be.

Éclair had remained quiet as they made their way back into the depths of the systems under the control of Black Star. He still felt ashamed of the way he had behaved when he thought it was strangers asking for their help. But even worse, he felt that Éclair was ashamed of him now, and that filled his heart with more pain than he could bear. Throughout their time together, Éclair had looked at Ryan like she never had before ... like he was the center of her universe. A pillar of virtue in a sea of darkness. And now, all that was gone as he had shown his true colors all too well. When it came down to it, Ryan really was a coward. He had told himself that it was just for Éclair’s sake that he didn’t want to go back, but that wasn’t entirely true. It was part of it, a big part, but Ryan couldn’t deny his own feelings of dread when he thought about facing the Parasites again. They had literally torn him to shreds, and he had been all but powerless to keep them at bay from Éclair. In the end, he had been saved by Éclair’s nearly all-powerful godfather. But could he really count on that a second time? When it came down to it, Éclair might very well lose her life because Ryan was too weak to protect her. What shamed Ryan even more was the fact that a part of him was willing to let Grafael die if it meant saving her.

‘Keep her safe until I arrive, Ryan’. Those had been Zand’s words to him on Black Star after the old man had saved him from his first encounter with the Parasites. And now, Ryan was doing the opposite. He was charging back into the cesspool of evil. Hordes of rotting flesh and stinking breath. The vile and insidious nature of Parasites would soon darken their doors yet again. If Grafael would disapprove of their move, then Zanderius certainly would as well. The man had crossed entire galaxies to save them. Never mind the prophecy of Eclair being some kind of chosen one. Zand loved her as his daughter. Even Ryan could see that much. Could Ryan really go through with this? Could he stand the look of disapproval in Zand’s eyes? A man who had been nothing but sincere and kind to him. A man that had saved him even more times than Grafael had. Zand had always been watching over Ryan and the team, he knew that now. And yet, Ryan and Éclair were on the verge of undoing everything that Zand had strived to accomplish. It was enough to make Ryan sick. Zand told them not to stop or change course for anything. Ryan wondered what the consequences would entail for defying a Sacred Vessel.

Zand, if you can hear me, I’m sorry. This is something we have to do. I hope you can understand that. If this means I’m no longer some special chosen child, or something, then I understand. I was never special, and I doubt I ever will be. But for what it’s worth, no matter what happens, I will keep your goddaughter safe, even if it means I have to die to do it.

Ryan felt himself grow solemn as he sat by Éclair’s side with a heavy heart. He wanted to apologize for the way he acted earlier. Did she really think him a coward now? He couldn’t stand it if she did, no matter how right she might’ve been.

Hoping to break the embargo of silence, Ryan spoke up. “Look, Éclair ... I-”

“I’m sorry for your arm,” interrupted Éclair suddenly without taking her eyes from the console. “Does it still hurt?”

Ryan felt a little confused by her concern as he had hardly considered the exchange. In fact, he actually thought he deserved it after the way he spoke to her. “Um ... no! No, it doesn’t anymore.”

Reflexively, he rubbed his wrist that once tingled with frigid fury at Éclair’s touch. “But you know me. I’m a wimp when it comes to the cold. I can fight Parasites all day, but just blow a little breeze on me, and I’m out.”

Éclair didn’t respond at first, clearly engrossed in her work. Ryan began to think the conversation had ended when she added softly, “I’m glad you’re not hurt. You’ve put yourself through enough pain on my account.” Her stoic face betrayed nothing, but her voice sounded soft and almost abashed.

How did this turn into an apology to me? I’m the one who should apologize.

“Listen, Éclair. I wanted to say that I’m sorry. I hesitated to help a dear friend, and now I feel like I’ve disappointed you. It’s tough ... not being able to live up to this image you had of me being this unstoppable badass.” Éclair remained silent, so Ryan continued. “And I do want to save Grafael, too. Though, I’m not sure if I’d be willing to risk my life and yours for strangers. I was originally assigned as your bodyguard on this mission, so I guess I let that go to my head. Still, not wanting to save innocent people when that’s the Ministry’s whole schtick ... I know it probably makes me a bad Elemental, but it is what it is.”

Éclair sniffed. “I’m dragging you back to the most heinous place in the universe, and you’re apologizing for not wanting to go. Ryan, I could never be disappointed in you, not after everything we’ve been through together.”

Ryan perked up at the praise.

Éclair cleared her throat, as if hesitant to speak her mind. “In fact, there’s still time to return to the Gateway in the pod if you wish.”

“Why would I do that? There’s no need with the probe we sent to warn everybody.”

“Ryan,” said Éclair slowly, enunciating every syllable. “You’ve already been through hell trying to protect me. You endured more pain in a few short minutes than most people do in a lifetime. I can’t...”

Éclair paused, struggling to speak as the words caught in her throat. “I can’t ask you to go through that again. Not even for Grafael’s sake. He’s my friend. I’ll save him. You’ve already done enough.”

Ryan stared at Éclair, desperate to decipher her purpose in saying this. Did she just want to get rid of him? Had her confidence in his abilities been so severely shattered? Or did she just feel guilty because of the way he got hurt earlier while fighting the Parasites?

“Éclair, you can’t honestly believe that I’d leave you now?”

“No,” she answered quietly. “But I wish you would ... for your own sake.”

Before Ryan could muster another word, North’s voice screeched, beeping indistinguishably. The alarm with flashing red lights returned, a herald for horrors yet to come.

“We’ve got incoming signals,” explained Éclair, her hands blazing across the controls frantically. “Looks like more of those Parasite Asteroids.”

“Have they seen us?”

Éclair shook her head. “Unclear. The cloak’s still on, but they might have sensed the subspace distortion since I’ve accelerated North Star past the parameters for stealth flight.”

“Why?” asked Ryan exasperatedly.

“It took us weeks to leave the system in stealth flight! Do you honestly think Grafael has that long?” retorted Éclair tersely.

“Well, do you think we’ll be any help to him if they kill us?!”

“This is hardly the time or place, Ryan,” said Éclair as she shut down all nonessentials, making the bridge go dark and shrink like it did the last time they ran afoul of the Parasites in space. “I’m transferring all power to the cloak. Shut down the engines, North. Hopefully, they’ll float past us without taking notice.”

North replied with a whirring noise, and Ryan observed their arrested momentum on the screen. He also noticed the signs of the asteroids again that he knew were crawling with Parasites. No doubt they’d be escorted by the Cthulhu, making their chances all the slimmer should they be discovered.

Feeling a pang of panic steal over him as the objects on the viewscreen grew bigger, Ryan took hold of Éclair’s shoulder, more for his comfort than hers. “Éclair, if you tell me we’ll be okay, I’ll believe you.”

Éclair turned to Ryan with a gaunt expression. Slowly, almost hesitantly, Éclair nodded as she rubbed his wrist, saying, “We’ll be okay, Ryan.” She sounded as if she meant to convince herself as much as him.

The asteroids were upon them, as well as the infectious aberrations that sought passage on them. Already Ryan could see countless Parasites crawling around holes in the rocks, their appearance similar to anthills. At first, it seemed as if the asteroids would pass them by as the Parasites acting as jet propulsion pushed the asteroids in a flight that paralleled their vessel. However, the Parasites that acted as engines on the opposite end of the asteroids ejected their strange combustion liquid from the tubes growing out of their backs, forcing the asteroids to come to a stop. Dozens of Parasite-infested asteroids began to gather in a circle directly in front of the North Star.

Ryan gulped, whispering urgently. “What are they doing?!”

Éclair didn’t respond, but Ryan thought he could hear her repeating a single phrase quietly to herself. “We can see them, but they can’t see us! We can see them, but they can’t see us!”

Ryan detected some activity on the asteroids. The Parasites seemed agitated, crawling about in a heated frenzy, almost as if they waited impatiently for something. Then Ryan saw a small flock of Cthulhu, the dark, translucent wings casting shadows over the lights of the Parasites created with their combustible growths. A little over a dozen Cthulhu suspended themselves just in front of the Parasite fleet. They flapped their wings up and down despite the fact that there was no wind to propel their flight. Ryan could hardly understand how the creatures could move in space, let alone how they survived the zero atmosphere. He had only been in the void of space for only a few seconds, but he knew perfectly well that if not for his Elemental powers, he and Éclair would be dead. Yet these creatures seemed perfectly at ease traversing the coldness of space without any equipment or Elemency. Had he a more scientific mind, Ryan might have wondered what part of their anatomy allowed them to survive without breathing any kind of atmosphere, or how they could withstand the cold. As such, he was more concerned with how he might survive these monsters should they attack.

The Cthulhu hovered in front of them balefully. Whether their intentions were pernicious or not remained a mystery. Her eyes wide with terror, Éclair still managed to speak calmly under the circumstances. “Ryan, I’m going to start the engines. I need you to man the guns. Do you think you can do that?”

Ryan barely heard her, his dread at watching the crimson eyes of the Cthulhu arresting all reason.

“Ryan,” said Éclair a little louder.

Ryan shook, startled as he realized what Éclair just asked him. Nodding vigorously, Ryan stuttered, “Ye-yes. I-I think I can. I did on the Mecha-Lion. Flying is one thing, but blowing stuff up is my specialty.”

“Good,” whispered Éclair, her voice growing more desperate. “Because I’m fairly certain that they’ll attack at the slightest movement from us.”

Ryan bit his lip, his mental anguish peaking. “Are you sure we should? Maybe they’ll pass us by.”

Before Éclair could respond, he noticed the Cthulhu moving forward. They inched closer and closer to the viewscreen, their grotesque, twisted features becoming more prominent with each passing second. Ryan could see their bulging red eyes dashing to the right and left. The tentacles on their faces swished around like entrails. Black liquid frothed from their fanged lips, floating into space like bubbles. Ryan noted the long, gray tongues of the Cthulhu which extended out of their mouths like whips. The tongues stretched out of the Cthulhu’s heads, at least an arm’s length as they hung limply. Ryan thought the Cthulhu might have used their tongues as probes as they moved like snakes in front of them. He remembered how the Parasites sniffed the air with their tongues, and he figured that the Cthulhu could do much the same, even in the dead of space.

“Ryan,” growled Éclair softly through clenched teeth. “Man ... the ... guns.”

Ryan complied as two joysticks materialized in front of his chair. A target display appeared in front of his head. It took Ryan only a moment to adjust to the controls, but the concept was rather rudimentary. In fact, the movement of the gun controls was almost identical to that of the Mecha-Lion gun that he had manned more than two and a half years ago. He trained the targeting circle on the lead Cthulhu in front of them and waited for the slightest sign of aggression.

It took only a handful of these things to take down a capital ship. Do we really stand a chance if they get on board?

The lead Cthulhu snarled in the viewscreen, its mouth stretching wide as it revealed even more white fangs. As the Cthulhu growled soundlessly, Éclair and Ryan both heard a screeching noise so loud that it forced them to cover their ears. The pain in his head became excruciating as he felt blood dribble from the earholes. The lights flickered on and off, North’s consoles fazing with static due to some kind of unknown interference. Just when Ryan thought he couldn’t take the noise a moment longer, it suddenly subsided, the silence perhaps more disturbing than the sound itself. Ryan turned to Éclair, and he didn’t have to ask to know what she would say next.

With a pale face, Éclair spoke wanly, “The cloak is gone.”

Éclair watched as the Cthulhu charged directly at the cockpit, its long arms reaching forward with its claws outstretched. Before it could reach the ship, the creature got pelted to bits with blue laser bolts from the turrets manned by Ryan. Even after taking dozens of canon shots, the Cthulhu still flailed about, its liquid body constantly reforming itself. Ryan finally managed to disintegrate the creature completely as he targeted each piece in turn.

Hardly waiting for a response from the late Cthulhu’s companions, Éclair primed the engines as high as they would go before bringing the ship about and zipping past the throngs of enemies. Ryan lurched in his seat from the turbulence caused by Éclair’s maneuver, the artificial gravity working overtime to compensate for the fancy flying. Éclair accelerated the ship into the fastest possible speed that would still allow the vessel to maintain integrity while within the confines of a solar system’s gravity. Any faster, and they risked ripping themselves apart, even with a ship as durable as the North Star.

It took Éclair a few moments to remember to breathe as she felt her heart racing. In a breathless voice, Éclair spoke to Ryan without taking her eyes from the viewscreen of blazing stars. “Are they following?”

“Uh,” replied Ryan, unsure of what to do.

“Turn the gun around!” commanded Éclair.

Ryan did as instructed, gasping in surprise as his chair moved in the direction of the controls he inputted with the joysticks. Ryan recovered quickly, looking through the targeting screen directly behind her, though Éclair could hardly glance his way as the slightest misstep would send the ship careening out of control at these speeds.

“Yeah, they’re on us, alright,” answered Ryan in alarm. “Son of a biscuit! How can they even keep up at this speed?!”

“And they’re not alone,” said Éclair, noticing more red dots on the sensors. “Multiple bogies converging on us from all directions! Looks like we’re in for a bumpy ride!”

Éclair didn’t have to see the viewing screen to know what was coming. Swarms and swarms of space traveling Parasites. Thousands of them swarming from all directions. And that was not the worst of it. Leading the swarms, Éclair distinguished the unique energy signatures of the Cthulhu who flew much faster than the Parasites.

“Holy turd muffins!” exclaimed Ryan as he glanced at the screen and saw the onslaught coming for them.

Éclair’s mind raced at a million miles per hour as she calculated their best course of action. “North, Ryan’s going to need full range with the gun to keep them at bay. Condense and configure the hull to battle-ready specifications.”

North beeped in reply, setting to work on Éclair’s orders.

Éclair then turned to Ryan in warning. “Be ready, Ryan. When we switch to battle-mode, it can be quite disorienting. You’ll have to be locked to your chair as we must turn off the artificial gravity. Do you think you can still function under such conditions?”

“Don’t think I have much of a choice,” said Ryan uncertainly.

Éclair nodded, punching in the necessary commands. As she did, seatbelts sprung from their chairs, pinning them tightly to their seats. Within a few seconds, the room shifted again. The cockpit became a complete sphere as the flat floor sunk into a pit-like form. Both Ryan’s and Éclair’s chairs stayed hovering in the air as the floor sunk beneath them. While Ryan’s chair remained stationary near the wall of the chamber, Éclair’s chair floated into the center of the spherical cockpit, giving Ryan uninhibited movement to swivel the guns in any direction of the ship he desired: up, down, sideways, or slanted.

Outside of the ship, North Star configured the hull to take on a spherical form as well. The North Star now resembled a large, white ball with spikes sticking out from every point. The spikes would act as automatic lasers, firing short bursts of plasma energy at any object that came too close. A large silver cannon protruded out of the vessel longer than the spikes; the turret that Ryan would control during the battle. North would have control over the automatic laser systems, though they were not as powerful as the gun that Ryan wielded.

“North, help Ryan as much as you can to keep those Parasites off our tail! Especially watch out for the Cthulhu! Just one of those things can cause irreparable damage to the ship merely by touching it! We know from experience!”

North beeped in reply.

“How you doing, Ryan?”

Ryan looked a little queasy. “Like I’m about to barf my whole stomach out!”

“Just keep shooting and worry about that later!”

The enemy armada was right on top of them. Both their pursuers at the rear and the ones in front were closing in on them in a pincher maneuver. Éclair saw a wall of flesh in front of them. With the viewscreen that displayed their rear flank, she saw dozens of Parasite-guided asteroids coming in from behind.

So it begins! Éclair thought to herself, praying silently for the fortitude needed to keep her and Ryan alive.

“Éclair!” cried out Ryan, seeing the hordes of enemies about to close in on them within seconds.

At the last possible instant, Éclair put the North Star into a nosedive, sending it tumbling at the point in the armada where the enemies were the sparsest. Through the sensors, Éclair felt satisfied to see many of their pursuers crashing into each other. Asteroids collided with swarms of Parasites and Cthulhu, causing pandemonium among the creatures’ ranks. Éclair smiled. Though the beasts may have acquired space travel, they had little finesse.

But her ruse did not deter the monsters for long. The Cthulhu were the quickest to recover, leading the Flying Parasites and the asteroids down to follow the North Star’s trajectory. Within seconds, the Cthulhu were right on top of them yet again. Then the vessel shook as they suffered an impact. It surprised Éclair because she didn’t think the Parasites or the Cthulhu had much in the way of long-range combat.